![]() ![]() I survey not only string theory but also the other leading contenders for a deep theory of nature such as loop quantum gravity and “buckyspace,” drawing out the similarities and differences among the theories and how they bear on the mysteries of nature such as black holes, extra dimensions of space, and the possibility of time travel. In this book I cut through the jargon and the controversy to provide an up-to-date account of what string theory says, what it means not just for physics but for the wider world, and how it’s starting to be tested at new scientific instruments such as the Large Hadron Collider, the giant particle smasher in Europe due to fire up this summer. ![]() It’s not always neat and tidy, but that’s what makes it fun. What this book lays out for you is cutting-edge science. It has yet to be developed fully, let alone tested in any convincing way. String theory has come in for some very public criticism, some of which is justified, some of which is unfair. The effort to produce a unified theory of physics is no exception. Scientific revolutions, like the political sort, are messy. Many of the aspects of the world that seem so strange to us now will fall into place. Through it, human beings will finally know the principles that ultimately govern the universe and make it a place fit for us to live in. If string theory is right, it goes right to the foundations of physical reality. ![]() String theory melds the theories that underpin all of modern science and technology: quantum theory and Einstein’s theories of relativity. They don’t just unite subatomic particles, but even things we don’t normally think of as things, such as forces, space, and time. Witten has theorized that there are dualities which can connect the multiple theories through particle interactions.Strings may be small, but their implications are huge. In the 1990s, it was thought that these 5 types were separate and only one of them could be valid (whichever theory's energy limitations matched the physics on earth). In the case of string theory, with our present understanding, there would be nothing more basic than the string.Įdward Witten has made massive contributions to physics throughout his life, including his introduction of M-theory, a theory that unifies all 5 current variations on string theory (The 5 variations being type I, type IIA, type IIB, SO(32) heterotic, and E8圎8 heterotic). And that's because you hear a pure tone rather than the higher overtones that you get from a piano or violin that give music its richness and beauty.Unity of the different forces and particles is achieved because they all come from different kinds of vibrations of the same basic string. If we listen to a tuning fork, it sounds harsh to the human ear. One of the basic things about a string is that it can vibrate in many different shapes or forms, which gives music its beauty. String theory is an attempt at a deeper description of nature by thinking of an elementary particle not as a little point but as a little loop of vibrating string. ![]() Witten, in an interview with NOVA, describes string theory as such. But currently, while it is not yet within our grasp to prove string theory through experimentation, theoretical physicists like Edward Witten continue to explore the theory's' possibilities. Beginning in the early 1900's with the unified theory, many have sought to expand the knowledge of our known universe. There were many theories that led to the initial development of string theory in 1968. But string theory suggests that making up this seemingly indivisible subatomic particle are what appear to be strings, whose vibrating and ever-changing shapes and interactions through space make up all that we know. Up until string theory, that is where our knowledge ended. He explains how everything is made up of atoms, which are made up of electrons, protons, and neutrons, which can be broken down further into quarks. In a 2005 TED talk, theoretical physicist Brian Greene explains this theoretical principle by breaking down our knowledge of matter. String theory exists in an attempt to join the ideas of Einstein's general theory of relativity with quantum mechanics, put together to apply quantum theory to gravity. But it was not until the emergence of superstring theory, or string theory, that an answer seemed possible. This insurmountable task has been taken on by many over the last century or so. For decades, scientists have theorized about what lies beyond the third dimension and if there can exist a unified theory to explain all of the workings of the universe. ![]()
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